Sponsored by The Investment Center, Inc.
Ralph Devito, President and CEO
The Investment Center, Inc.
The Investment Center bills itself as a firm focused on culture and service that is responsive to customer’s needs. How were you able to adapt so quickly to a virtual environment?
The Investment Center (TIC) is an independent broker dealer. We provide services to roughly 300 advisors around the country. We provide an easy solution for them to run their business. We're also very accessible. I get calls from advisors throughout the day and tend to respond immediately. Our management style is open and fluid which made us able to pivot quickly. Everyone pitched in from the top to the bottom — from my executive team all the way to the receptionist. Our advisors all know that we work for them and not the other way around which is reflected in our surveys and retention rates.
We were able to adapt so quickly to a virtual environment because we are always looking at how we can better enhance solutions for our advisors. When the pandemic started, I was on vacation. We held a staff meeting via conference call to assess what we thought was going to happen and what we had to do to provide our clients with what they needed.
Our head of technology made an early decision that we should move to a virtual environment so in about a week we were ready. We even sent some team members to Costco to buy laptops and headsets so our back office could work remotely. By the time I got back from vacation, we were staffed 50% working remotely and 50% in the office. Another reason we were able to adapt so quickly was because of my management style. I’m not a micromanager. I have an incredible staff that knew what had to be done and took control of making it happen.
TIC recently pivoted to hosting a 3 day virtual summit. How was it received? How long did it take to adapt to a virtual environment? Will you continue hosting online events?
We always pride ourselves on great events. We host a national conference, regional meetings and a Chairman’s Conference on a yearly basis. It is always great to connect face-to-face with advisors but when the pandemic started hitting us in March, we knew that we had to reinvent how we hosted our meetings. I was first to say that we should cancel the event which was coming up soon. Instead the marketing team decided to turn the event into a virtual event with two months to prepare.
We combined our in-person national conference and our summer regional conference into one three day virtual conference that was held in June. We created an engaging event with great content and phenomenal speakers. Jeremy Siegel, our keynote speaker kicked off the conference. The key was to create a truly engaging experience. We hosted panel discussions, virtual networking events, and Q&A sessions. We received lots of positive feedback from the attendees. Both our staff and advisors were shocked on how quickly we pivoted to create such a dynamic event. Going forward, I think we will see more of a mix between in person and virtual events.
How are you helping advisors use technology to be more responsive to client’s needs?
The independent advisors, in my opinion, are a bit more advanced using technology than the wirehouse advisors. However, over the last several years, we have introduced new technology to help advisors such as numerous website enhancements and the use of eSignature allowing clients to sign paperwork electronically. And of course, we pivoted to using Zoom which most advisors have adopted to stay connected with their clients.
Has this lead to greater use of technology among advisors? Will these practices become standard for advisors?
I don't see why it would change. It is probably going to become part of the new normal which will most likely be a combination of the two. It is just so efficient. We have found that we are even more connected with our advisors. We are able to reach more people using technology than we did in person.
From what I have heard, I think that the advisors feel the same way.
The firm recently launched TIC Talk, can you tell us more about it and what topics you have covered?
TIC Talk started out as a way to communicate with the advisors and to keep them informed on a regular basis. The goal of TIC Talk is to help them better navigate the practice management landscape as well as give them an opportunity to connect with Home Office staff. We discuss topics such as succession and continuity planning, best practices and how to embrace technology to make their practice more efficient. We cover anything that is going to help them grow their business. We also use TIC Talks to get out information about important changes to the industry, such as updating advisors on Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS. TIC Talks will continue throughout the remainder of 2020 and likely beyond.
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